u Q $\ \ ø i Q %î 0'& , . -otV . .- )(. .. -0 -o )(. . . ",. ,,/fll.... ... '., ""l.. ;,': C- O -< -I :I: m :::E: :E -.- comes a picaresque-an American Od- yssey crossed, perhaps, with Frazier's or Minghella's memory of those samurai narratives in which warriors trying to get home are set upon by bands of ma- rauders. In this case, the marauders are a vicious group of Southern freebooters- the Home Guard-searching for de- serters and terrorizing their families. As Inman avoids these corn-liquored fu- ries, he undergoes one physical and moral trial after another. He has an am- biguous encounter with a terrified group 9 of slaves in a ruined cornfield. He runs into a fornicating minister (Philip Sey- 8 mour Hoffman) and a backwoods 0.::: scoundrel (Giovanni Ribisi), who lures Inman and the minister to his house, offers them women, and then turns them over to the Home Guard As Inman and Ada, two chastely high-minded lovers, attempt to reach each other, prêdatory sex runs riot in hidden places. Shaping these vignettes to bring out all their grotesque --- and boisterous life (and there isn't a dud among them), Minghella demonstrates a talent for violence that he's never suggested before. Even though I knew alarming things were coming, I was repeatedly startled by the power of his staging. There's a near-sickening moment in which In- I man and a group of other deserters, chained together like slaves, are shot, and Inman tries to drag the bodies of the others down a muddy hill. Yet Minghella is rooted in show business; he has given us the strongest kind of relief: filling out the vignettes with exceptional ac- tors-including Eileen Atkins, as a witchy mountain woman who takes care of Inman when he's half dead, and Brendan Gleeson, as a fiddle player whose scratchy tunes signal a return to life mid- way through the movie. While Inman struggles to get home, Ada's farm is revived by young Ruby (Renée Zellweger), an arrogant inter- loper with a strong back. Prune-faced and bossy, Zellweger stomps into the movie like a junior Mammy Yokum. At first she seems to be doing an easy comic turn-but then she grabs a rooster by the neck and breaks it with a snap of her wrist. Ruby teaches Ada to haul, plow, and plant, and to defend herself against the marauders, transforming her pale young mistress into a formidable woman. For a while, we seem to be watching the birth of a classless, all- female Southern society, but the roman- tic pull between the letter-writing lovers is too strong: the structure of the movie '" , ,< v .. :.: , .(,: ." . ,........ . of . ->;;:.'_ ''',' .:.' u_ \ -::.\ J . ' '-../ *2003 North American Car of the Year. 'Best Pick' Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. First to talk about it in a very small advertisement. LET'S MOTOR M MINIUSA.COM 02003 MINI. a division of BMW North America, LLC. By John De PU) Struggling with Business? '. "..,"" .,' Btï.ilíÍ n I :,;.';' :;. !.':'" , ,<, ' " r.r1J m ' ' ::?- irI[[t ' :; m :'.;.:,, ;.: ; .".,.".., . '"" f 7fJ#t 1 : '^' f , Take the right people and the right focus, and go anywhere! Order Now 800-342-6068 BookmanMarketing.com Bookman Publishing & Marketing Martinsville, Indiana P ALLADIO TOURS 11.::.r.I.r.J. 'I.T'kl.ð ' ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL TOURS THE ITALY VERY FEW KNOW Brochure: toll-free 1-877-999-8754 o/anÇjogh tIours Guided & Self-Guided Walking & Bicycling Tours in Hollan France, Italy, Austria & Gre.tCe Quality Vacations at Affordable Prices! 800-435-6192 www.vangoghtours.com G g uitars.CQm - - ' .-. .' ....... ' :- >>. $:.:::. ..... : : ..;:<.'::.;: Guitq,s wJtl.!l e's, Amps EffeGts';St i.n .s, Accessones Shop. "O'hl,ine, Lowest Prices Call Toll Free 866 508 5550 45 years of experiance · NOW ONLINE! · SKIS · SNOWBOARDS · CLOTHING SPYDER, BURTON, SALOMON, RIDE, PHENIX VOlKl, BOERI, & MANY MORE '. ,/ ' <-, '8 8 8 . 413 . 6 9 6 6 !too ' .:<:0.- WWW.CHRISTYSPORTS.COM Imagine...a pleasurable investment I from a one-man shop in Maine. C.H. BECKSVOORT FURNITURE MAKER Box 12, New Gloucester. ME 04260 Catalog $5. www.chbecksvoort.com THE NEW YORKER., DECEMBER 22 & 29, 2003 167